What W. H. Auden can do for you / Alexander McCall Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-

Series:

Writers on writers.

Writers on writers

Writers on Writers ; 5

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973.

Auden, W. H.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (149 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. ; Woodstock, England : Princeton University Press, c2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

When facing a moral dilemma, Isabel Dalhousie--Edinburgh philosopher, amateur detective, and title character of a series of novels by best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith--often refers to the great twentieth-century poet W. H. Auden. This is no accident: McCall Smith has long been fascinated by Auden. Indeed, the novelist, best known for his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, calls the poet not only the greatest literary discovery of his life but also the best of guides on how to live. In this book, McCall Smith has written a charming personal account about what Auden has done for him--and what he just might do for you. Part self-portrait, part literary appreciation, the book tells how McCall Smith first came across the poet's work in the 1970's, while teaching law in Belfast, a violently divided city where Auden's "September 1, 1939," a poem about the outbreak of World War II, strongly resonated. McCall Smith goes on to reveal how his life has related to and been inspired by other Auden poems ever since. For example, he describes how he has found an invaluable reflection on life's transience in "As I Walked Out One Evening," while "The More Loving One" has provided an instructive meditation on unrequited love. McCall Smith shows how Auden can speak to us throughout life, suggesting how, despite difficulties and change, we can celebrate understanding, acceptance, and love for others. An enchanting story about how art can help us live, this book will appeal to McCall Smith's fans and anyone curious about Auden.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Author's Note

1. Love Illuminates Again

2. Who Was He?

3. A Discovery of Auden

4. Choice and Quest

5. The Poet as Voyager

6. Politics and Sex

7. If I Could Tell You I Would Let You Know

8. What Freud Meant

9. A Vision of Agape

10. That We May Have Dreams and Visions

11. And Then There Is Nature

12. Auden as a Guide to the Living of One's Life

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on online resource; title from title page (ebrary, viewed September 4, 2013).

ISBN:

9780691234533

0691234531

9781400847976

1400847974

OCLC:

858761906